


love to bits

by ohmyloki



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Adult Content, Alternate Universe - Aliens, Alternate Universe - Ancient Greece & Rome, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Alternate Universe - Stripper/Exotic Dancer, Art, Avengers: Age of Ultron Trailer, Dildos, Fluff, Food, Getting Together, Jealous Steve Rogers, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Misunderstandings, Mixtape, Professor Tony, Punk Steve Rogers, Romance, Sculpture, Secret Relationship, Strip Tease, Strippers & Strip Clubs, Tattoos, Tiberius Stone - Freeform, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, mild dirty talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-15
Updated: 2015-03-07
Packaged: 2018-02-17 10:55:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 27
Words: 15,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2307131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohmyloki/pseuds/ohmyloki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of my Steve/Tony drabbles and ficlets.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Cheeks of Red

**Author's Note:**

> Collecting these off of tumblr and moving them from my other drabble 'collection' so that all my Steve/Tony stuff is in one nice package. This is going to take awhile...
> 
> (It goes without saying that these are unbeta'd.)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked:
>
>> headcanon: tony blushes more than steve does

Steve had the blushing trained out of him pretty quickly during Basic and the following few years with his Howling Commandos did nothing but reinforce that learning experience. Irish heritage or not, he could sit stone-faced in reaction to most anything, his cheeks never once flaring to color like they had so often done when he was younger.

Tony, though… Tony, despite any reports to the contrary, had always been an emotional person. His mother used to tell him how much she loved his rosy cheeks when he was growing up and maybe for that reason, or simply because he didn’t have the patience or stability to train it away like Steve, it has just become another fact of life to him.

Luckily for Tony, he spent most of his life under the glare of harsh, hot lights and it wasn’t unusual for his face to become red with heat, exertion, or simply flush with drink. He always had an excuse handy as to why his cheeks have suddenly gone crimson, and it definitely never had anything to do with something as lowbrow as emotion.

Or, at least, that is until The Avengers happen. Then he decided maybe it was time after all to stop drinking and to maybe not thrust himself in the spotlight quite as often. He finally grew up, what could he say? It only took him some forty odd years.

So when he walked into the kitchen one morning after a full night’s sleep and spotted Steve standing half naked in front of the stove scrambling his typical half-dozen eggs, he could feel the warmth of blood rushing to his cheeks.

When Steve turned around and awarded him with a brilliant smile and a quick greeting, Tony’s cheeks just burned that much more. Steve gave him a curious look at the lack of response, but his lips remained curved upwards as he searched Tony’s face. 

Without the ability to lay blame—no alcohol, no exertion, no overly warm lights in the kitchen—Tony didn’t know  _how_ to respond. So he walked away instead, feeling Steve’s eyes trailing after him as he went.

Steve would later tell him that he could pinpoint that as the exact moment he realized he was in love with Tony Stark.

~~Tony had been in love with Steve all along.~~


	2. The Most Important Meal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> starkasmic asked:
>
>> rachel. rachelll. Steve coming back from a run and thinking he'll make Tony breakfast in bed only to run into Tony in the kitchen making Steve breakfast for when he gets back from his run

Steve walks into the kitchen, a pep in his step from a great night and a relaxing run, and skids to a halt at the scene he’s walked in on.

He had planned on downing some orange juice, taking a quick shower, and then coming back to make breakfast, hoping to surprise tony in bed. If he was honest with himself, he was mostly hoping that if he stopped Tony from getting up, he could keep Tony in bed for other reasons. But those plans go up in flames when he sees what’s in front of him.

"Steve!"

"Uh, Tony…"

"I made you breakfast."

"You sure did."

"I didn’t know what you’d like and JARVIS said you eat something different every day so I just—"

"Made  _everything_?”

Tony looks around at the mess he’s made in the kitchen. The stovetop is cluttered with used pots and pans, the chopping board and counters are covered in varying bits of fruits and veggies, and the kitchen table barely has room for cutlery it’s piled so high with plates of every breakfast dish Steve could think of and some he couldn’t. 

Steve watches Tony’s eyes flicker around, a crease growing between his brows. He laughs and walks over and wraps his arms around Tony’s waist.

"Ugh, sweat," Tony says, his nose wrinkling and leaning back slightly.

"You weren’t complaining about it last night," Steve replies, dipping his head and pressing a kiss to Tony’s jaw. "This is a little… much, don’t you think?"

"I’m sorry, have we met? I’m Tony Stark, I don’t do things by halves."

Steve laughs and dips lower, nipping at Tony’s neck. He smiles at the way Tony relaxes in his arms and tilts his head for better access.

"I have an idea," Steve says into Tony’s skin.

"Hmm?"

"Why don’t we grab that box of donuts, I’ll take a quick shower, JARVIS can let everyone else know there’s food in the kitchen, and you and I can have breakfast in bed."

Tony shivers slightly. “Breakfast, huh?”

Steve smiles. “Breakfast first. Then we’ll see where things go.”

"Has anyone ever told you that you come up with the best plans?"

Steve laughs and leans back, looking at Tony’s face, his heart warming at the expression he finds there. “Yeah, once or twice.”

Tony wiggles his eyebrows. “Donuts and morning sex? I think I may just have to keep you.”

Steve leans down to capture Tony’s lips with his own. "I’m planning on it," he says into the kiss.

Tony laughs.


	3. Undercover Undercover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked:
>
>> The rest of the Avengers send Tony and Steve to a couple's resort under the guise of it being an undercover mission but mostly to try and get them together.

Steve drops his bag on the lone king-size bed in the midst of a very large, upscale room, before he walks over to the gigantic window. The view is breathtaking and he takes a moment to appreciate it.

"You know this is a set-up," Steve says as he watches the waves crash on the beach.

"Hmm?"

"This mission. There’s nothing going on around here that could be considered criminal," he says, picking up a menu from the table and setting it back down immediately. “Unless you count the prices.”

Tony laughs and Steve watches as he loosens his tie before flopping backwards on the bed, Steve’s luggage bouncing at the impact. He stretches lazily before crossing his arms under his head and looking at Steve through heavy-lidded eyes.

They watch one another for a moment, Steve’s body warming at the way Tony looks at him. He clears his throat and looks away, missing the way Tony smiles.

"You’re right," Tony says without a hint of surprise.

"You knew?" Steve asks, once again taking in the view.

"Mmm."

"Why didn’t you refuse?"

"Steve," Tony says seriously. "For all intents and purposes, they sent us on vacation. I may be a workaholic but sometimes even I can recognize when I need a break. Why not take it on someone else’s dime? Even if they think they’re pulling one over on me."

Steve laughs and shakes his head. “So you don’t care that they sent us on a fake under cover mission in an attempt to get us to sleep together?”

He hears Tony slide off the bed and pad across the carpet, coming up behind him. Arms snake around his waist and warm air caresses the side of his neck followed by a pair of gentle lips.

"Are you saying that’s  _not_ going to happen?” Tony murmurs into Steve’s skin.

Steve smiles and turns in Tony’s embrace. He cups Tony’s jaw gently before leaning down to kiss him. It’s a kiss with intent, nips of teeth and the slow slide of tongues, but he pulls back before it goes too far.

"Tony, I plan on fucking you through every single piece of furniture in this room. And maybe even a few that aren’t," Steve says, his voice low. "I’m just a little surprised you’re not offended that someone thought they could trick you."

Tony’s grin is dirty and perfect and just like him. “There’s a lot I’ll suffer for a week alone with you… I just can’t wait until they find out you and I have been together for months. I’ll have to make sure JARVIS gets a good image of the looks on their faces.”

Steve’s laugh turns into a moan when Tony cups him through his jeans. 

"Now which piece of furniture should get the first honor?" 


	4. The Man With No Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kayytx posted this on tumblr:
> 
> silently waits for someone to write a fic based on [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-4MMfEdeE4) (Chris Evans & RDJ during a press junket) where Steve and Tony accidentally out their relationship during a press line at an event because they’re so damn handsy with each other
> 
> i couldn't help myself.

"Captain Rogers, how has it been working with The Avengers now that you guys are officially a sanctioned team?"

Steve beams at the reporter with a completely genuine smile. Even though he’s been asked this question dozens of times that day, the thought of his teammates, the thought of his home, makes him happy.

"It’s unbelievable, actually. Everyone—especially Tony—"

Steve catches movement out of the corner of his eye. At the mention of his name, Tony, who is standing a few feet away giving his own interview, turns to smirk at him.

Steve can’t resist smiling back, “Yeah, I’m talking about you, Iron Man.”

Tony closes the distance between the two of them and stretches up to place a quick kiss on Steve’s cheek. Steve’s arms automatically come up around his waist and they share a warm, but quick embrace.

A murmuring of ‘ _aw_ ’s go around the reporters recording them before they separate. When they do, Tony makes a quick joke about Steve being the man with a plan and a strict laundry schedule and heads back to his interview.

Steve’s reporter opens her mouth to ask another question, but Steve can hear someone asking Tony for a picture of the two of them together. Tony refuses, insisting that Steve’s busy with his own interview but Steve can’t resist. He takes a step and reaches over, grabbing Tony’s hand and reeling him back in.

"No, no. Now’s fine," he says, smiling brightly into the flash of cameras.

He’s not ashamed to admit that any excuse to touch Tony is an excuse he’ll gladly take. The large smile he’s giving the camera is in no small part due to the strong arm around his back, and the man attached to it.

He turns his head and whispers to Tony, “Have I told you lately how much I love you?” He asks, his nose brushing across the tip of Tony’s ear.

Tony turns towards him and grins, his face scrunching in the adorable way that Steve loves before Tony pulls him into another hug.

"Not since we left the tower two hours ago, Rod Stewart. But it’s nice to be reminded," Tony says, the warm air of his breath caressing Steve’s neck.

Steve leans back, their arms still around each other, and he smiles down at Tony.

"Well, this is me reminding you," he says. Automatically, his hand comes up and cups Tony’s face, his thumb stroking Tony’s cheekbone as they stare at each other like a couple of love drunk idiots. Dopey smiles and all.

And that’s when a reporter clears his throat awkwardly and Steve realizes how it must seem to them, the way they’re touching and looking at each other. He feels his eyes widen because he knows it looks like exactly what it is, that Captain America and Iron Man are in love. With each other. And while they haven’t really said they aren’t going to tell the public yet, they haven’t said that they are, and now Steve doesn’t know what to do.

So he defaults to what he usually does when he’s lost and unsure. He looks at Tony. Tony, who’s still smiling at him but with something softer, more intimate on his face. Tony shrugs as if to say, ‘What the hell?’

Steve himself is more than okay with letting the world know, and if Tony’s alright with it, then… what the hell, indeed?

Instead of parting and pretending it didn’t happen, Steve straightens his proverbial backbone and leans down, tilting Tony’s head up with his hand, and captures Tony’s lips in a kiss. The crowd around them goes silent for the same amount of time it takes for Tony to open his mouth and turn the kiss into something a little more PG-13 than PG (hint: not long at all) and then there’s blinding flashes of light and deafening shouts of questions.

All of which they ignore for now, enjoying a slow and lazy kiss until they finally part and Tony looks at him, pure joy written into every line of his face.

"Was that planned, Cap?"

"Not everything needs a plan, Tony."

"Mmm," Tony hums. There’s a beat of silence. And then, "Hey, Steve?"

"Yeah, Tony?"

"I love you too."


	5. Bad Company

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> dirtysouthavenger asked:
>
>> Tony loves music. He makes playlists for everything. One day, Tony makes a playlist to fuck Steve to.

At least that’s what Steve thinks it is.

Part of Steve’s routine every week or so, is to check out Tony’s music library. He has an _incredibly_  expansive music library.

At first it was just because Tony was always on him about listening to ‘real’ music, and getting caught up. It’s helpful, Steve thinks. Tony certainly has his preferences, but overall he has a pretty wide range of music available and Steve would rather take a chance and randomly find a gem than ask for recommendations and get nine different opinions from seven different people. He learned his lesson the first time they tried to watch a movie together as a team.

Then Steve notices the playlists. The playlists with odd names. Some are a mixture of letters and numbers that Steve quickly realizes are times and dates (sometimes he’s even able to correspond them to specific events), there are a handful of playlists named after people (“Clint” never fails to make Steve laugh), and then there are ones that look like gibberish. A string of letters that look like someone smashed their fist against the keyboard while occasionally hitting the ‘shift’ key. Steve’s a little proud at how quickly he manages to decode those.

Eventually Steve learns how to use them as a barometer for Tony’s mood. JARVIS helps by populating the playlists with statistics regarding what Tony listens to. He learns to scale back the banter when Tony’s been listening to what Steve mentally refers to as the ‘Fuck Off’ list, to find an excuse to visit him in the lab when he’s listening to his ‘I’m Sad But I’ll Never Admit To It’ list, and then Steve finally gathers the courage to kiss him stupid when JARVIS kindly points out the list that Tony tends to listens to whenever Steve leaves the workshop. The one that’s full of songs Steve knows that Tony would never admit to listening to. Songs that make Steve smile.

So Steve isn’t really surprised when, the day of their first ‘official’ date, a new playlist pops up. The name of which makes Steve’s body heat all over. His nerves are a bit shot, despite how well he and Tony know each other he knows that in their situation even this simple step is a huge one. His stomach is in knots and he keeps bursting into a fit of hysterical giggles whenever he thinks about it. Steve knows that he should resist, that he should wait and see what songs Tony’s chosen for that night when it happens… but he can’t help but peek. He uses his nerves as an excuse, maybe it will calm him down to get insight into Tony’s mind for the night. 

He’s expecting heavy bass and slow, sensual beats. It surprises him when the sound of a bright, happy guitar fills his bedroom.

_Baby, when I think about you, I think about love_  
 _Darlin’, don’t live without you and your love_  
 _If I had those golden dreams of my yesterdays_  
 _I would wrap you in the Heaven ‘til I’m dyin’ on the way_  
  
 _Feel like makin’_  
 _Feel like makin’ love_

By the end of the song, Steve’s cheeks hurt from smiling and he finds that the coiled tension in his body has completely evaporated.

Steve is head over heels for one of the smartest men in the world, a man who was kidnapped and tortured and came out the other end a hero. A man made of iron and so full of bravery that sometimes it takes his breath away…

But mostly, Steve is in love with the dorky goofball who makes playlists full of cheesy, sappy love songs for when he makes love to his new boyfriend for the first time.

And he couldn’t be happier to admit it.


	6. Tease a Little More

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> iridescent-nonreality asked:
>
>> Au where Steve runs a strip club and Tony is the new guy -flings glitter and flees-

Steve owns and runs the strip club but he’s a legend in the business. He came from nothing and worked his way up in the world. The American dream, some would say.

Starting out as a stripper, he worked nights, spent mornings at the community college taking business classes (getting a few glances the times he didn’t manage to get all the glitter off of him), followed by a strict exercise routine at the rec center, and then he’d sleep away the rest of the day before starting it all over again.

Within a year of working as a stripper, he was their biggest draw. His muscles, good looks, even his  _manners_ made him into the main attraction. His routine, though… Tony had only heard rumors about the things that man could supposedly do on a pole.  _That_  was what made Steve a star. 

Even back then he ran the place. He brought in too much money for the higher-ups to do anything that might tick him off and send him to a competing club. Steve took major advantage of this, finding ways to make the working environment better for him and his peers by threatening to walk if management didn’t acquiesce.

Within five years, he’d completed his degree and managed to find the financial backing to buy the club. That was the day he hung up his pretty little red, white, and blue g-string for good. Tony was only just starting in the business then, but even he had heard about Steve Rogers and was disappointed that he’d never had the chance to see him in action.

So Tony was more than a little excited when he saw the job opening at Steve’s club. He was _ecstatic_  when he auditioned and got the job.

But that was all blown out of the water the moment he met Steve himself. Tony was never one for flowery language but he swears that his heart stopped beating for a moment when Steve’s baby blues locked on him. It started back up again, double time, when Steve smiled at him.

Tony nodded and joked his way through his brief orientation, and Steve kept right on smiling, the picture perfect gentleman even as Tony paraded around in a red thong. When they parted and Steve went back to his office to make a few phone calls, Tony was a little disappointed to say goodbye, but man did he appreciate the view.

* * *

 

They got along well, Steve and Tony, for all their differences. Tony’s sarcasm and wit always seemed to bring a smile to Steve’s face, and Steve’s earnestness and charm made Tony warm all over. Not to mention, the man was an encyclopedia of dirty limericks that always had Tony laughing.

Sometimes Tony would go back and hang around Steve’s office before his shift started, sitting on Steve’s desk wearing whatever costume he had planned for the night. Steve just kept on working, gracefully conducting business around Tony’s body while also keeping up with Tony’s tendency for one-sided conversation. (It surprised Tony the way Steve always seemed to be able to keep up with him, even if it looked like his attention was elsewhere. It surprised him… and turned him on.)

They both led busy lives, though, so their friendship mostly began and ended at club’s doors, despite how badly Tony would like to see Steve off hours. But he enjoyed what they had, he was content with it.

* * *

 

The strippers at Steve’s club had 24/7 access, a nice set of shiny keys handed over to them with their paperwork upon hiring. This allowed them the ability to come in when the club was closed for the day and to work on their routines right on stage.

Tony took advantage of this often, despite the fact that he has a personal pole at home, because there was always the off chance of running into Steve. Plus, he liked testing things out in the real environment. Who had time for careful planning and consideration these days?

That was why he was at the club that day. The bar and stage were empty but Tony could see the glow of the light under Steve’s door, indicating his presence. Not wanting to bother him (yet), Tony set up the music and got to work.

He spent the next two hours working up a sweat, swinging around the pole, and gyrating to the music. It was a build up, though, to a finale Tony had been working on for months now. A trick that required an insane amount of core control and perfect balance.

A trick that Tony still hasn’t mastered, judging by the way he lay face down on the stage, a deep chuckle coming from the bar. Tony righted himself and smiled over at Steve who lifted an eyebrow in return.

"Trouble?" Steve asked.

"I meant to do that."

Steve laughed outright at that, and approached the stage. He peered up at Tony critically before pointing at the pole.

"You’re not positioning your legs correctly, you know. You’re overbalancing with your torso."

"That’s right, I forget you used to do this," Tony added. He picked up his towel and made his way to Steve, settling himself on the edge of the stage, swinging his legs just a bit.

Steve smirked at him.

"Rumor has it you were pretty good," Tony said.

Steve nodded, a cocky smile on his face.

"I don’t know if I believe it. You’re too… sweet."

Steve narrowed his eyes and stepped in closer, almost standing between Tony’s legs.

"I wasn’t just ‘pretty good,’ Tony. I was damned good. Still am. You’d be able to learn a few things from me."

"Yeah? Well. Why don’t you teach me a lesson, then?"

They were in each other’s space, leaning in further as the exchange went on, Steve’s height making him loom over Tony as he sat on the stage. Tony saw the way Steve’s eyes flicked down to his mouth and he couldn’t help but to lick his lips, drawing his tongue out along the bottom slowly, enjoying the way Steve’s eyes followed the motion.

"Not here," Steve said, voice low.

"No, not here. Come with me."

The trip to Tony’s apartment was quiet and tense. The kind of tension that Tony related to life changing events. 

Tony loved being proven right.

Steve made it through one lesson, showing the way Tony should wrap his leg around the pole, before the hand on Tony’s thigh slipped up high enough to make Tony inhale sharply. Then it was a flurry of motion and they were kissing… and Steve’s hands were  _everywhere_.

By the next day, a couple of rounds in bed, Steve showing a routine on the pole, another round on the floor, and more laughter than he thought possible, Tony learned that the stripper pole wasn’t the only pole Steve knew how to work. 

American legend, indeed.


	7. Epic Failures and Second Dates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked:
>
>> I love when Tony has fail moments like IM3 where he calls his armor & it gets hits something & smashes to pieces just as it's about to get to him. Or the whole city is burning and he says 'I think I did ok'. So how about Steve fail moments. He's so bloody prefect with his shield throws. Would flirting from Tony on the battle field case Steve to miss the shield (or get hit by it)? Would Tony find out Steve likes him due to Steve's sudden clumsiness around him. I love awkward steve

"So, Steve, I was thinking—"

"Tony, unless you’ve figured out how to to turn all these machines off, I don’t want to know what you’re thinking," Steve says, dodging a blast before pausing to peer at the distance from his rooftop to the next.

"Pfft. I’m working on it."

"Then keep working on it," Steve says, backing up to make the leap.

"You know me, I work best when distracted."

Steve sighs and Tony must take it as permission to continue because that’s exactly what he does. 

"So I was thinking," Tony begins and Steve takes off. He sends his shield flying at the monstrosity on the adjacent rooftop, and gets a running start, launching himself over the gap between the buildings.

"I was thinking that we should hang out sometime," Tony continues. "As in… without other people around. Like a date," He stops and inhales right as Steve lands, rolling into the impact and popping back up on his feet.

"No, sorry, not  _like_ a date. An actual date. Dinner, maybe dancing, the whole shebang. You and me. What do you say?”

Steve’s stomach does a flip as he straightens. Tony just asked him out on a date. Tony Stark just seriously asked him out on the date. No sarcasm, no jokes. A legitimate date.

Steve warms all over and is about to answer that  _of course_ he’d love to go on a date with Tony, he’s only been head over heels for him for the past eight months, but then he hears the familiar sound of his shield slicing through the air.

It’s close, too close, and three thoughts flash through Steve’s mind in a fraction of a second.

1\. He hesitated too long, caught off guard by Tony’s words, and he can’t turn in time to catch it.

2\. He’s too close to the edge of the building.

3\. This is going to hurt.

* * *

 Steve wakes up to the sound of steady beeping, the smell of antiseptic, and the feeling of a warm hand in his. He inhales deeply and lets out a long sigh.

"You know when I said I wanted to spent time together with just the two of us, this isn’t what I meant."

The heart monitor signals the effect the sound has on him and Steve rolls his head towards the voice and cracks his eyes open. Tony’s smiling at him fondly in the not-quite-darkness of a hospital room.

"I was imagining candlelight and silk, not the glow of a heart monitor and hospital-grade cotton."

Steve huffs out a laugh, his head giving a throb and reminding him exactly why he’s there.

"I cannot believe I got hit by my own shield," he says, voice cracking from a dry throat. Tony immediately slides a cup of water in front of him and Steve takes it greedily with his free hand.

"You’re slipping, Cap. How does that even happen?"

Steve feels his cheeks heat but he mumbles out the answer anyway. “You, uh, you asked me out on a date.”

There’s silence followed by a loud peel of high-pitched laughter. He shoots a look at Tony, who quickly tries to school his face back to a serious expression but fails miserably.

"You were so distracted by the idea of going out on a date with me, that you forgot to catch your shield?"

Steve clears his throat but avoids answering.

"I hope it was the good kind of distraction at least, otherwise the fact that I’ve been holding your hand for the past couple of hours is about to get super awkward."

Steve lets Tony sit in uncomfortable, ambiguous silence just for the fun of it.

"So," Tony says.

"So," Steve replies, smirking.

Tony rolls his eyes before asking, “Would you like to go on a date? With me.”

"What, tonight doesn’t count?"

Tony lifts an eyebrow, a smile spreading across his face.

"Well, in that case," he says as he leans down, hovering inches away from Steve’s face. Tony looks at him for a moment, gauging his reaction, before he smiles and presses his lips to Steve’s. The kiss itself is soft and gentle but the man behind it sets Steve’s nerves on fire.

Tony pulls away far too soon.

"Alright, then. What are your thoughts on a second date?" Tony asks, eyes wide and guileless as he looks down at Steve.

Steve smiles up at him. “Help me get out of here and I’ll show you just how good a second date can be.”

A flash of surprise crosses Tony’s face but then he’s reaching behind Steve, pressing the call button, and, would you look at that, it brings him right back into kissing proximity.

(They break apart at the sound of someone clearing their throat. The look on the nurse’s face vaguely reminds Steve of small children on Christmas morning.)


	8. I'm Sorry, Who Are You?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked:
>
>> Could you please write a thing where a guy Tony slept with at one point sees him again and is all up in Tony's business while Tony is asking him to back off and Steve goes into full over protective boyfriend mode? PLEASE AND THANK YOU!!!!

Steve is stuck in the middle of a stilted conversation with a woman whose name he should know but can’t quite manage the effort it takes to remember. He feels bad about it, kind of. Or at least he would if she wasn’t taking every opportunity to put her hands on him, despite him constantly shrugging off the contact and stepping away. She just steps right with him.

He’s debating the most polite way to extricate himself from the situation, glancing around the room for a spark of an idea, when he spots Tony. Suddenly the need for politeness evaporates and Steve simply says, “Excuse me,” and walks away.

* * *

 

"It’s been far too long," says the smarmy voice over Tony’s shoulder, sending an unpleasant shiver down his spine.

He turns around; fake smiled plastered on his face, and returns the greeting.

“Ty, it’s been ages,” he says. And he’d like for it to be even longer, but he’s trying the whole ‘civil’ thing lately.

He knows he shouldn’t have isolated himself at the end of the bar, tucked into the corner of the room. That’s just asking for trouble. Though, to be fair, trouble seems to have no problem finding Tony. Corner or not.

Tiberius smiles down at him and Tony fights the urge to gag. He reaches up and brushes a thumb along Tony’s cheekbone and Tony flinches back. He mentally berates himself for the showing of weakness, but the idea of Tiberius’ hands on him for any longer overcomes that particular shame. 

Tony sighs and rolls his eyes, enough with the pretense. “Make it quick, Ty. I have better things to be doing. What do you want?”

"It looked to me like you were drinking alone at the bar."

"Like I said, better things to be doing."

Tiberius laughs and Tony has to briefly admire the amount of condescension he manages to squeeze into that sound.

"You’re so dramatic. We had some good times, didn’t we?"

Tony nearly laughs himself, but then Tiberius steps towards him, invading his space.

"What do you say to a quick romp, for old time’s sake?"

Tony can’t keep the revulsion off of his face this time. “Sorry. But I’m going to have to decline.”

"Oh? It doesn’t look like you have anything better going on, all alone like you were."

Tony opens his mouth to tell Tiberius off, but he’s interrupted.

"Tony, there you are," Steve says with a bright smile on his face.

He’s surprisingly graceful and delicate as he steps around Tiberius and positions himself at Tony’s side. The weight of Steve’s warm hand on his lower back replaces the weight in Tony’s chest as he feels the tension drain out of his body.

Steve gives him a long, knowing look, before turning to Tiberius. “Hello, I don’t think we’ve met before. I’m Steve.”

Tony watches, interested, as they shake hands. By the way Tiberius’ eye twitches he gets the feeling that Steve is giving a new meaning to the term ‘firm handshake’. To his credit, Tiberius tries his best to appear unfazed, but Tony knows him well enough to see the cracks in the facade and the way he clenches and unclenches his hand when Steve lets go.

"Tiberius Stone," he says through his smile before narrowing his eyes at the obvious confusion written on Steve’s face.

"I’m sorry. I’m not sure I know who you are. How do you guys know each other?" Steve asks.

And, boy, Tony was going to fabricate the guy an Oscar because until this moment he wasn’t aware that Steve could act so well.

"I’m an old… pal of Tony’s," Tiberius says simply.

Steve nods, eyebrows furrowed. “Hmm, the name’s just not ringing a bell,” he says and then chuckles to himself. “I’m sorry, my memory’s not too great. If it’s not important, it tends to fall through the cracks.”

Tony’s torn between applauding Steve’s thinly veiled insult and laughing at the bald-faced lie. Steve’s mind is like a steel trap, not to mention they’d had the ‘past relationships’ conversation a few weeks after they had started dating.

Tiberius’ smile was more like a sneer as he spoke. “Tony and I used to date. Enthusiastically, if I remember correctly.”

"Oh, well," Steve laughs. "Tony’s certainly had his share of life experience, but I can’t hold that against him. I guess if anything, I’d have to thank you. No matter how insignificant, every piece of Tony’s past has shaped him into the man I love today.”

Even though he knows full well what’s going on, the smile on Steve’s face still manages to creep Tony out just a tiny bit. He’s surprised that Tiberius is still trying to talk to them, much less the fact that he’s holding eye contact with Steve.

Tiberius opens his mouth to speak, but Steve beats him to it, glancing at Tony.

"If you don’t mind, Tony and I have somewhere we need to be. It was a pleasure meeting you." Steve says, his arm tightening around Tony as he attempts to lead him away. They’re stop short by a hand around Tony’s wrist. When Steve notices, his eyes flash dangerously.

Instead of shutting up in the face of an angry super soldier, like someone with a shred of intelligence would do, Tiberius smiles, “So soon? I was hoping for a bit more of Tony’s time. I’d love to be able to catch up.”

Five minutes ago, Tony’s skin would have been crawling at the touch, but now he’s thoroughly engrossed and distracted by how Steve’s acting. It’s both amusing and slightly arousing, this display of protectiveness. He doesn’t even have it in him to be upset over Steve talking for him.

Steve uses every inch of his height to his advantage as he addresses Tiberius again, looking down at him.

"Now, Mr. Stone. Tony and I both appreciate the role you had in his past," he says as he takes a step forward, crowding Tiberius. "But I’m afraid that’s where you should remain. I’m going to speak for both of us when I say, outside of civil pleasantries, there is and will be no room for you in Tony’s future. It’s all full up, I’m afraid."

Tony’s eyes flicker back and forth between the two men.

"Are we going to have a problem?" Steve asks after a moment, his voice is low and threatening. It’s enough to set the hairs on the back of Tony’s neck on end.

There’s a moment of silence, a moment where Tony is legitimately worried a fight is about to break out, but then Tiberius drops his wrist and takes a step back.

"It was nice to meet you, Mr. Stone," Steve says, ice in his voice as he puts his arm around Tony again and they turn towards the exit.

"Let’s hope it’s a long time before we do so again," he adds over his shoulder as they walk away.

Tony’s only slightly upset he doesn’t see the look on Tiberius’ face as they leave, but Steve’s expression more than makes up for it. He knows it’s petty and immature, but seeing Steve jealous sends a zing of pleasure through him.

He  _does_  know better than to say anything about it while they’re making their way through the crowd, though, he can feel the tension thrumming through Steve’s body through the thick material of his jacket. The moment they’re out the door, Steve leads them around the building into the alleyway and before Tony can speak, Steve’s got him shoved up against the wall, his tongue already licking his way into Tony’s mouth.

He’s mumbling words between kisses. Things like sound an awful lot like  _love you_ ,  _mine_ , and  _how dare he._ He manages to get his knee between Tony’s thigh and Tony’s shirt completely untucked before he leans back, panting as he looks down at Tony.

Tony’s brain is a little fuzzy from, well, everything, and all he can manage to say is, “What-“

"I’m sorry," Steve says quietly. "I don’t know… I don’t know what came over me. But seeing him touch you like that. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t—"

"No, no. It’s fine," Tony says, still breathless.

Steve leans down and rests his forehead against Tony’s. They breathe each other in for a minute, Tony rubbing his hands up and down Steve’s back in an effort to relax him.

"Let’s go home," Tony whispers. 

Steve nods shortly but doesn’t move. When Steve opens his eyes, the look he gives Tony makes him forget how to breathe.

"We’re going home," Steve agrees. "We’re going home, we’re going to get into the shower, I’m going to wash his touch off of you, and then I’m going to lay you out on  _our_  bed and take you apart inch by inch.”

The air rushes out of Tony’s chest in one fell swoop.

"Yeah," he says. "Yeah, I’m good with that."


	9. It's Time For Pulling Out The Stops

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> miss-ingno asked:
>
>> Stony, ancient greek au

There’s a loud bang that causes the trees near Steve to sway followed by a large crash. He’s out of the water and on his way back to his camp before he even consciously makes the decision.

When he arrives he sees Tony laying under a pile of rubble. A pile that looks like it had been a carriage in its past life. Before Tony got his hands on it, anyway.

Tony gives him a cheeky smile and wave. “Hey, Steve!” He says proudly from where he’s currently lying prone on the ground.

"Tony, what did I tell you?"

Tony rolls his eyes. “No experimenting with explosions without supervision. Although I really don’t see the reason why.”

Steve raises his eyebrows. “Really? You don’t see the reason why? Why don’t you get yourself out of there, then?”

Tony wiggles around for a bit, tries to lift a piece of wood off of him, grunting and straining before he gives up and lets his head thump back onto the ground.

"Well, I’m sorry," he says. "But not all of us can be the illegitimate son of a God."

Steve frowns but walks over anyway, making quick work of the rubble.

"That’s why," he huffs as he lifts the largest piece, "you don’t do this alone."

Tony tsks as he rolls out and stands up, brushing the dirt off the front of his toga. Then he looks up and notices Steve’s state of dress.

"Did I catch you in the middle of a bath?" He asks, stepping closer.

Steve shrugs. “Heard the explosion, came running.”

Tony grins and reaches out to run a finger along Steve’s pecs and then down further.

"My hero," he says and leans forward to bite at Steve’s neck. "Let me give you a reward."

"Don’t be silly, Tony—" He starts and then stops when Tony drops to his knees in front of him. 

"Oh. Okay."


	10. Green-Eyed Monster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked:
>
>> Steve/Tony, not exactly an AU-Setting. Steve's the jealous one, he's always jealous when Tony flirts with woman on Galas etc. Then he walks to him and blinding the woman with his charms and smiles until she doesn't know anymore what she wanted from Tony. And Steve has him for himself :p

"Steve, can I talk to you for a moment?"

Steve turns his blinding smile on Tony and wow, he completely understands the woman’s predicament. Sadly, the smile drops off as Steve takes in Tony’s expression and nods. Tony pulls him off down the hall and into the empty library, shutting the door quietly behind him.

Before Tony can turn around on his own, strong hands are pushing at his shoulders, spinning him and shoving him up against the door. He barely has time to take a breath before Steve’s lips are against his, his tongue delving into Tony’s mouth.

Steve pulls back enough to whisper against his lips, voice low. “I’m sorry. I just couldn’t stand the way that woman was hanging on to you.”

Confused, Tony asks, “So you decided the best way to fix that was by flirting with her?”

Steve smiles against Tony’s lips. “It worked didn’t it?”

Tony laughs. “Unusual method, but I guess I can’t argue with the results.” 

When Steve shoves a hand down Tony’s pants, he finds himself unwilling to ask further questions.


	11. Under Arrest (For Stealing My Heart)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked:
>
>> Tony and Steve, in jail (for god knows what. Probably some stupid reason thanks to Tony), and Steve starts to have a panic attack cuz its his first time being in real trouble.

The cell door slams shut, echoing down the hall. It’s the middle of the night and the small town jail is practically deserted. Tony stands in the middle of the room, taking in his surroundings, and wondering just how the hell they managed to end up here.

So much for the undercover gig, he thinks. Then he thinks about how he’s going to have to explain to Pepper why he and Steve were arrested. And Coulson. Fury’s face might make it all worth it, though. Either way, it’s going to be a fun day when they get back to New York.

That’s when he notices Steve’s hands gripping the steel bars, his knuckles turning white with the force of his grip. His head is bent forward and his shoulders are moving up and down quickly, harshly. Like he’s hyperventilating. Tony wonders if Super Soldiers can still pass out from that.

He approaches Steve and sets a hand on his shoulder. He’s not big on comforting people and this thing between he and Steve is still a little new (and exciting, which may explain the current predicament) so he’s not sure what exactly he  _should_ do, but he wants to try.

"Uh. Are you alright? Are you freaking out on me? I don’t have a paper bag for you to breathe into but, uh, if you want to talk, I’ve been there… After New—" He stops and takes in the curve of Steve’s cheek.

"—wait a second. Are you  _laughing?”_

Tony pulls at Steve’s shoulder and Steve turns easily, tears streaming down his face. He sniffles and tries to stop laughing, trying to tell Tony something, but it just seems to spur him on. It’s enough that Tony’s own smile at watching Steve is almost painful.

"I’m sorry," Steve says between a bout of giggles. "I’ve just never been—"

"Arrested?"

Steve shakes his head and waves his hand. “Oh god, no. I was arrested plenty back when I was younger.” He laughs again. “Got into a lot of fights, you know?”

Tony’s eyebrows go up and he watches as Steve tries to compose himself.

"Just," Steve starts and then another laugh bubbles out of him. 

"Just what?" Tony asks, still grinning at the maniac in front of him.

“ _Prostitution_ ,” Steve manages to choke out before losing himself to another fit.


	12. Teach-A, Teach-A, Teach Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> juanitatequila asked:
>
>> steve/tony, university setting featuring prof!tony and student!steven :D

"No," says the authoritative voice behind him and Tony nearly jumped a foot in the air.

"Jesus Christ, Pep. Give a guy a heart attack."

"While I would relish the vast amount of free time your untimely death would give me, I don’t want you dead quite yet."

"Well, that’s comforting."

"It should be."

Tony opens his mouth to speak again but Pepper beats him to it.

"Don’t try to change the subject, Tony. You cannot date a student."

"Date? Who said anything about dating. Besides he’s a Grad Student that’s—"

“ _Not_  different. A student is a student and I saw the way you looked at him.”

"If you’re saying I looked at him like I’d want nothing better for him to bend me over this desk right now and—"

Pepper holds up a hand and Tony grins.

"That doesn’t mean I want to  _date_ the kid,” he continues.

"Tony," Pepper warns him.

"Alright, alright. I wont do anything while he’s a student."

***

He  _doesn’t_  do anything about it while Steve’s still his student. At least, nothing outside of his blatant staring and pretty overt flirting. But Steve ends up dropping Tony’s class the day before the final drop date. He cites the fact that he has overloaded on his art courses and he doesn’t have time to eat and sleep, much less study for something as intense as Tony’s class this semester.

When Tony notices the change in the enrollment information at the beginning of the next class, he tells everyone to go out and enjoy the weather—Pepper is always telling him  _he_  needs to get out more, after all—and heads over to the art building. He knows that’s where Steve will be.

Steve may not have time to eat and sleep but it turns out he has enough time to bend Tony over that desk a couple weeks later.


	13. Are You An Alien? Because You're Outta This World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked:
>
>> stevetony, alien au (different planets to each other)

"You don’t look so different from us." Tony says as he looks the alien named Steve up and down. 

Steve smiles, flashing a row of blinding white teeth. His cheeks turn a little pink in an endearingly human gesture.

"I have it on good authority that the main difference lies in our reproductive organs," Steve says.

His eyebrow is lifted and he’s leaned into Tony’s space ever so slightly. His voice a little huskier and oh, wow—is he  _flirting?_ Tony’s own eyebrows go up and he clears his throat.

"Yeah? How different are we talking about here?"

"Similar enough that there would be… compatibility between our two species. It would not result in offspring but I’ve heard it’s considered incredibly pleasurable for both parties. More so than same-species unions."

"You don’t say," Tony says a little dreamily.

Steve leans in a little closer, inches from Tony’s face. “I’m sure your superiors would be interested in data collection. I am willing to be… experimented on.”

"Experimented on," Tony repeats, licking his lips. "Right. Yes. Let’s do that. For, uh science."

"For science," Steve agrees as Tony grips his wrist and takes him somewhere private.


	14. The Sunshine of Your Smile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> brightki asked:
>
>> Steve/Tony. College roommates.

Tony’s busy arranging the furniture to maximize his privacy when he hears the door open. He turns around, mouth open to do the— _ugh_ —polite thing and introduce himself but instead what comes out is: “You’re hot.”

The guy stands in the doorway, turning a shade of red that shouldn’t be so attractive on human skin, like he’s frozen on the spot.

Tony stops what he’s doing and walks over to his new roommate. He’s tall, blonde, and beefy and his eyes are probably the most beautiful shade of blue Tony has ever seen. The old-fashioned hairstyle and his long, long lashes already endear him to Tony in a way he hasn’t experienced since he met Rhodey.

Tony sticks out his hand. “I’m Tony. You’re hot. Nice to meet you.”

And when the man sticks out his hand to shake Tony’s, he smiles and reveals dimples in his cheeks that make Tony’s heart stutter in his chest.

"I’m Steve," says Steve and his grip on Tony’s hand is firm and confident even if the expression on his face doesn’t quite match. And Tony’s already thinking about how best to move the furniture so he’ll never miss one of Steve’s smiles again.


	15. 616 Jumpstreet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked:
>
>> 1) Stoneh 2) Teacher/student high school AU

"Undercover?" Tony stares at him, shock evident on his face.

They’re standing in the middle of Tony’s classroom, Steve’s gun to his side as the building shakes with another explosion. Steve nods and does another once over of the room. The door is barricaded but it wont last long to a frontal assault. They’ve got to figure a way out or a way to fight.

"Fuck. I knew you looked too old to still be in High School."

"I’m 28," Steve says, trying to think of a way to get Tony out of the line of fire.

He’s so distracted with his worry, he doesn’t notice as Tony walks up to him. He does notice, however, when Tony grabs a handful of his shirt and pulls him down into a bruising kiss.

"Thank god," Tony murmurs against his lips and Steve laughs.

When Tony pulls back, his eyes do a sweep of the room and then another longer, distinctly more lascivious, sweep of Steve’s body that makes him shiver.

"Alright," Tony claps his hands together, a wicked gleam in his eyes. "Let’s show these idiots not to mess with the science teachers, shall we?"

Steve grins in response, knowing that Tony is about to do something brilliant. And thinking that maybe later he and Tony can do something dirty.


	16. Permanence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kayytx asked:
>
>> One day Steve falls asleep while drawing in the workshop, face down and almost drooling into the couch. Tony goes over with a sharpie, pulls Steve's sweats down a little, and draws the Iron Man helmet on Steve's butt

Tony laughs and laughs when Steve finds it in the shower. He even laughs when Steve grabs the shower head attachment and turns it on its most forceful setting, dousing Tony as he stands at the sink, toothbrush still in mouth. He lets out an insane little giggle when Steve finally gets out of the shower and walks over to him, rolling his eyes but smiling, before giving him a long kiss and heading to their bedroom to get dressed.

Two weeks later when he stumbles back in after a tense business trip and Steve greets him with a crushing hug and roaming hands, he doesn’t laugh when he finally has Steve stripped naked and on his stomach on the bed. 

He’s just confused.

Steve always catches Tony’s awkward silences and starts speaking before Tony can ask.

"Did you know there’s a little tattoo parlor up the block?"

"Steve," Tony says, his voice a mixture of awe and disbelief.

"They’re real nice bunch of people there. Different from what I expected."

"You didn’t," Tony says.

"I did."

Tony swipes his tongue across his thumb and then rubs at the small, dark image on Steve’s rear. The skin reddens at the pressure, but the ink doesn’t smudge. The Iron Man helmet is as stark and prominent as it was a second before.

“ _Steve._ ”

Steve hesitates, craning his neck to look over his back at where Tony is positioned between his legs. A crease forms between his brows, worried.

"I didn’t—I’m sorry I shouldn’t have presumed without—"

"Shut up. Just shut up. I don’t have enough blood left in my brain to pacify your insecurities. It’s perfect. It’s… it’s fucking hot is what it is."

Steve’s eyes darken, the crease disappearing. “Yeah?”

"Yeah." Tony softly caresses the mark with his thumb. "Is it permanent? I mean, with the serum?"

Steve shrugs as much as he can. “Dunno. We’ll find out I guess.”

"Yeah,"  Tony says breathlessly. "I guess we will."


	17. Pillow Silence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked:
>
>> Hi Rachel, I dont want to bother you too much. Ive had a really awful day with application stress for colleges getting to me. Reading your drabbles always tend to cheer me up, so thank you. I can just sit in that page for hours. If you arent too busy can you please write, or rec some fluff with steve or tony cheering the other after a horrible frustrating day?

Steve is half-heartedly sketching on the couch, the television tuned to some mindless action movie that he finds himself glancing at every once in a great while, mildly interested. His attention isn’t particularly grabbed by either activity but in a way this  _in_ activity is nice. Relaxing, even.

The first hint that he’s no longer alone comes to him via drawn-out groan, emanating from somewhere around the doorway behind him. The sound is more fitting a zombie-flick than the action that’s currently on the screen.

The second hint is the mild thump of something hard and heavy hitting the carpeted floor, closer to him than the moan before it.

The third and final hint comes by way of a full-grown adult male casually throwing himself over the back of the couch, shifting around until his head is in Steve’s lap and his nose is buried in Steve’s stomach.

Steve lets out a small laugh, and sets his sketchbook on the arm of the couch, and cards his fingers through Tony’s hair. Tony’s arms snake around his waist awkwardly, pressing his face even further into Steve.

"Rough day?" Steve asks softly.

Tony mumbles something against Steve’s stomach, the words intelligible but the tone makes clear just how bad the day was.

Steve makes a soft, empathetic noise and continues to run his fingers softly through Tony’s hair, smiling at the way he relaxes and sighs into the touch.

Steve’s tempted to move, to have Tony sit up so he can undo the tie and divest him of the jacket. He wants to wipe away the traces of the day that have reduced the man who’s always so full of talkative energy to groans and mumbles and sluggish movements. But he catches the way Tony’s face is relaxing, the way his breaths are evening out, warming Steve’s skin through the fabric of his shirt, and thinks there will be plenty of time for that later.

For now, he turns the volume of the television down, and settles in, ready to help Tony in whatever way he can.

And if that happens to be nothing more than being a warm pillow for the moment, he’s more than happy to provide that service.


	18. Mixtapes Are So 80s

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked:
>
>> What if (instead of finding it annoying as he does in so much fic) Steve actually LIKES Tony's music?

It starts out, as you’d expect, with Tony sending Steve a playlist of must-listen music to help him catch up. Because even though it’s been well over a year since Steve has graced them with his presence, Tony knows it’s been a year full of battles and wars and very little downtime for Steve to just… relax.

So the first playlist comes via small package that shows up at Steve’s doorstep containing a Stark MP3 player and is loaded up with a hundred songs and a small note attached saying, “Tried to keep it manageable. Let me know when you’re finished and I’ll give you the next 100. - Tony”

So Steve listens, ready to dislike the music the way he had first disliked Tony… but finds himself enjoying it. He actually really, really enjoys it and finds himself listening to some of the songs multiple times before moving on to the next. He’s also a little ashamed at himself for jumping to conclusions. 

He gets through the first list in one night and sends a quick text to Tony telling him so.

The next day, there’s another box at his doorstep and Steve rolls his eyes because he really doesn’t need two MP3 players and it would be just like Tony to do that instead of updating the one he already has.

Steve, never wanting to be wasteful, gets on his computer, downloads the software and plugs in the original MP3 player and loads it up with some of his favorite songs from both his previous life, and from what he’s been able to listen to so far this time around. He slaps a sticky note on it that says, “Don’t be so wasteful. Listen to this, it’s only fair. - Steve” and calls up a courier service.

Tony gets the hint and from then on simply takes the MP3 player from Steve whenever they see each other (Steve who has taken to always having it on him), adds a new playlist, and hands it back to Steve without comment. If they go too long without seeing each other, Tony swings by Steve’s apartment and they inevitably end up spending the next few hours talking, usually ordering a pizza, and sometimes popping in a movie that Tony thinks Steve absolutely needs to see. Pretty soon, it turns into a weekly ritual. 

Everyone on the team thinks it’s adorable that two full-grown men are exchanging the modern day equivalent of mixtapes. The gossip makes Steve pause and think for a moment, but ultimately he decides it’s just Tony being Tony and doesn’t put much more thought into it.

But then Clint asks the question, “Why doesn’t he just have JARVIS do it? I mean, you guys don’t really need to have a date night just to update an iPod.”

Steve bites his tongue at the impulse to correct Clint, to tell him that it’s not an iPod, it’s a StarkBox, and then pauses to consider Clint’s words. It’s true. They (both) could just ask JARVIS to update the playlists. There’s no reason for Tony to swing by his apartment every week just for something that simple.

And then Steve feels his stomach drop a little at the thought of  _not_ seeing Tony weekly, at the thought of no more pizz, beer, and movies with Tony’s wisecracks in the background. His lips purse at the thought of not feeling Tony’s warm thigh against his because Steve’s couch is small and sags in the middle and more often than not they wind up pressed against each other’s sides by the end of the night.

And then his heart skips a beat at his own realization, at the way things finally click into place for him, and his face must be a reflection of his thoughts because Clint laughs at him and pats him on the back.

"Sorry, man. I thought you knew," he says.

Steve shakes his head and Clint laughs again, taking his mug of coffee and leaving the kitchen, his snickering echoing down the hallway.

Steve spends the day internally freaking out back at his apartment, and when there’s a knock at his door around nine that night, he knows precisely who it is. What he doesn’t know is how to act around the man he just realized he was in love with. He doesn’t know what he’s going to do when he opens that door and is faced with Tony’s smile and Tony’s wide, brown eyes.

He takes a breath and turns the knob.

And then promptly surprises himself, his body seeming to move of it’s own accord the moment Tony’s eyes meet his and Steve sees the way the edges crinkle because Tony is smiling. Tony is smiling at  _him_ and Steve just can’t help himself but bend down and try to capture the taste of that smile with his own lips.

Tony makes a muffled noise of surprise followed by what sounds like a mumbled, “ _Yes.”_ And then it’s a flurry of activity, of hands pulling and pushing, a door slamming shut, flicks of tongue, teeth nipping at lips, and tripping and laughing their way through Steve’s living room and straight to the bedroom.

When Tony licks his way down Steve’s bare chest, Steve briefly thinks that he’ll have to remember to thank Clint later. 

It’s the last coherent thought he has that night.


	19. Phallic Aptitude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous asked:
>
>> Someone (let's be honest it's almost 100% probably Tony) anonymously deposits a huge bag full of dildos in Steve's room thinking it will embarrass him and/or make him moody and irritated (but instead he gets all artsy crafty with them. Paints some of them, uses some of them creatively in decorations and then leaves them randomly around the tower to the frustration of the others. Tony is impressed, amused and a bit turned on by the thought of Steve handling them while he's working with them.

No one else seems to notice that the centerpiece on the coffee table is made up entirely of dildos. Tony, however, walks into the room, eyes immediately drawn to the new addition, and nearly chokes on his coffee. Bruce pats him on the back and gives him a concerned look that Tony quickly waves off, and shrugs before sitting down on the couch and setting his book down on the table. Right next to the dildo sculpture.

Tony skirts the table like it’s a wild animal, fingers clutching his mug, eyes darting from person to person wondering why no one has said anything. After all, this is not a group of people who would take a pile of dildos in stride without comment.

But no, no one else seems to be concerned. Maybe they don’t realize… Tony’s the one who bought them after all. And they’ve been painted over and parts have been carved off to slot together. But he can still see the vein on the sides of a couple of them, for god’s sake!

He sits down in the open chair and sips carefully at his coffee, eyes not leaving the sculpture. He doesn’t realize his mind has wandered until someone speaks.

"Tony?"

He nearly jumps at the sound of his name. A glance around the room tells him that he must have been lost in his own thoughts longer than anticipated, it’s now empty save for himself and one other. (He’s only briefly concerned with the amount of time he’s spent contemplating the dildos in front of him.) When he shifts his gaze, he finds Steve, who’s looking at him with eyes full of innocent concern. 

It’s an expression that’s complete and total bullshit. Tony narrows his eyes.

"That centerpiece. New?" He asks, playing dumb.

"Made it myself," Steve says, grinning slightly.

"Ah." 

"What do you think?" Steve asks, eyes unusually intense. Tony’s mouth goes dry.

"Very… very interesting. You’re very… good with your hands. You must know how to work the material well," he says, trying to wind Steve up a little. 

"I’ve had my share of experience in the area," Steve says, giving Tony a long look that has his stomach twisting. "You just need to know the strengths and weaknesses of what you’re working with. Learn how to manipulate it, learn how to handle it in just the right way and eventually it’ll do anything you want it to."

"Oh," Tony says dumbly, not expecting Steve to turn the tables on him so quickly.

"I could show you, if you want," Steve says as he stands up, voice low.

"Um."

"I’ve got a nice little work area set up in my room. Plenty of space to… show you the proper techniques." He moves closer to Tony’s chair, towering over him. Tony’s grip on his mug tightens.

"Really?" Tony asks, voice higher that he’d like and catching a bit in the middle. 

Steve bends over, placing his hands on the arms of the chair, bracketing Tony where he sits. He leans in close enough that his nose is almost brushing Tony’s.

"Really," he says, not breaking eye contact.

Tony’s eyes widen as his blood rushes south. He finds himself involuntarily leaning forward, but Steve stands up again and heads out of the room. When he reaches the doorway he turns back to look at Tony.

"Coming?" He asks.

Tony clears his throat, sets his mug on the table, and stands up. “Fuck yes I am,” he says and follows Steve down the hall.


	20. Breakfast in Bed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kayytx asked:
>
>> Whenever Steve and Tony go on vacation Steve insists on staying at a place that has, at the very least, a kitchenette so he can make Tony breakfast in bed for at least one day of their trip and he always makes breakfast foods from the cuisine of the country they're in :3 GOOD MORNING RACHEL

Plates and silverware were strewn about the table and the bed. A variety of syrups sat on the floor near them. Steve had made crepes that morning and Tony was, once again, impressed. Every day, Steve seemed to come up with some new talent or ability that had Tony falling a bit more in love with him.

"Oh," Tony moaned. "I’ve got to say, I admire your culinary skills, Rogers."

"Mmm," Steve hummed around a mouthful.

"Very creative," Tony added. "Also very sticky." Tony looked at his hand, pressing his fingers together and watching them stick slightly. He grinned before closing his eyes with pleasure, licking his lips. Steve really was amazing.

"We’re going to need a shower after this, I think," Tony said. "And I’m going to have to leave a massive tip for housekeeping."

Steve chuckled then, the sound sending a tingle up Tony’s spine. 

"What do you say tomorrow we—"

There was a loud, wet sound before Steve spoke. “Tony,” he said.

Tony craned his neck, tilting his head up from the pillow it had been resting on, to look at Steve. Steve with the puffy red lips, wide bright eyes, and chocolate syrup smearing his mouth.

"Stop talking," he said in warning, glancing down pointedly.

"Just giving my compliments to the chef," Tony said.

He stopped talking, then… save for a few choice words here and there, mostly consisting of Steve’s name, ‘yes’, and ‘oh god right there.’ Steve seemed to appreciate the compliments all the same.


	21. Naked Breakfast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked:
>
>> How about the cooking cliché? Cooking and sexual tension don't go well together. Do with that what you will! ;)

Steve stops short in the doorway.

"Wow," he says.

Tony looks over his shoulder and tosses him a grin. Then he does a ridiculous little shimmy before turning back to the stovetop with his spatula. Steve pauses, crossing his arms and leaning against the doorframe. He appreciates the view before speaking.

"You’re naked," he says. Then his eyebrows furrow. "Why are you naked?"

"Naked breakfast," Tony states, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. "Now are you going to strip and help out or are you just going to stand there and stare?"

"Isn’t this unsanitary?" Steve asks, stripping out of his shirt all the same.

Tony laughs.

"There is not a single part of my body that has not been touched, fondled, caressed, licked, or sucked by you and vice versa." He turns and lifts an eyebrow. "Are you really that concerned?"

Steve answers by removing his pants and stepping up in front of Tony, resting his hand on Tony’s waist.

"S’pose not," he says before leaning in for a kiss. 

Steve tries to deepen it, but he’s met with a resounding  _whack_  of the spatula on his behind.

"I’m starving. Food now. Sex after. Get me the eggs?" Tony asks.

"Now that was definitely unhygienic," Steve says but does as asked.

***

"Relax, Tony. The doctor said you’ll be fine in a couple of weeks."

Tony moans pitifully, covering his face with a pillow.

"Time will fly by, trust me."

Tony lifts the pillow and glares at Steve, who raises his hands in mock surrender before standing up and crossing the room to turn out the lights. He tries to bite down on his desire to say ‘I told you so’.

After a moment, he says, “I warned you that frying bacon was a bad idea.”

He isn’t all together surprised at the pillow that hits the back of his head.


	22. Come And Jump On It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked:
>
>> So, tonight I volunteered at some carnival/fair and I worked the glitter tattoo station. I had these little girls give me all these tattoos and I'm covered in glitter! What if Steve and/or Tony worked the station? Fury?

Tony snorts when Steve walks into the room.

"Trying to recruit a stripper for the team or were _they_  trying to recruit  _you_?”

Steve rolls his eyes, his face and neck shimmering with glitter.

"Funny," he deadpans. "I need a shower… it’s been a long day," he says, kicking off his shoes.

Tony eyes him appreciatively as Steve shucks off his shirt and lets it fall to the floor, glitter raining down after it. He smiles to himself, making a few selections on his tablet and sitting down on the edge of the bed just as the bass of the song fills the room. Steve’s fingers freeze on the button of his jeans, his eyes flicking to Tony’s

_I’m just a bachelor, I’m looking for a partner._

Tony grins, very pointedly sets the tablet down behind him, and spreads his legs wider.

"Did they teach you any moves?" He asks.

He thinks Steve will shake his head and laugh before moving into the bathroom. He’s taken by complete surprise when Steve’s hips actually start to sway in time with the music. His breath catches in his throat when Steve stalks every so slowly towards him.

When Steve is close enough, his pants left on the floor behind him, he straddles Tony’s lap and leans in to growl into his ear. “What makes you think I don’t have any moves of my own?”

* * *

They find glitter in their bed for the next year… but Tony thinks it was well worth it.


	23. Of Scars and Videotapes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> gibbsing-around asked:
>
>> How about the cliche-iest (?) cliché of them all: Tony and Steve have to hide their relationship for whatever reason (Tony's company/Steve's reputation/people are stupid homophobes) and then something happens, one of them is in danger or hurt, or something and then BAM! It's not a secret any more. :)

It’s not unusual for Tony to be on television. And, these days, the mention of Tony Stark gets no more than a flicker of a glance to the screen by the Avengers. Today, however, is a bit different. Half of the team is lounging around the living room when the television show changes over to a trashy entertainment news program.

_"Looks like our resident playboy genius has gotten himself in a bit of a scandal. Reports leaked early this morning of yet another sex tape featuring the superhero, the first one since he came out as Iron Man in 2008."_

Everyone is watching now, with a variety of expressions. There are a couple of grimaces, a look of surprise, and one of intense interest as the clip starts. It’s short, showing what little they can on a cable show, starting out with a shot of the back of a man’s head. There’s a bout of laughter, one that does sound eerily like Tony, and then the camera pans down, blurring out the woman on the bed but giving a clear shot of the man’s rear.

Steve lets out a sigh. “It’s not him,” he says as the ‘news’ anchor resumes talking.

Natasha turns and looks at him, eyebrows furrowed.

"No scar. Tony’s got a pretty big scar on his, well," his eyes flicker to the screen and back, "that he got a few years ago. So either that’s not Tony, or it’s an… old…" He trails off, realizing what he just admitted to.

Natasha’s head tilts slowly, looking at Steve like she’s never seen him before, Bruce’s eyebrows are making an effort to join his hairline, and Clint’s jaw has apparently come unhinged.

Which is, of course, when Tony decides to walk into the room completely oblivious to the situation before him. 

"Rogers, I’ve got something down in the workshop I’d like to show you," he says, not looking up from his phone.

Clint makes a choking noise.

"I’ll just bet you do," Natasha deadpans, which makes Tony look up and take stock in the room.

He narrows his eyes at the expressions on the everyone’s faces, and then locks on to Steve. He pauses, searching for something, and then breaks out into a large, scandalized grin.

"You told them, didn’t you?"

"In a way," Bruce says breezily, answering for him.

Tony nods, crossing his arms over his chest. “Well that’s… that’s good.”

Steve, not realizing he’d tensed up, relaxes in a haze of relief.

"At least I can quit making excuses. Steve. There’s something I’d like to show you in the bedroom," Tony starts, and Steve lets out a nervous giggle that’s completely unlike him. "Well, there’s a few things I’d like to show you in there but the biggest one right now is my d—"

"TONY," Bruce says.

"Just because we know doesn’t mean we want to  _know_ ,” Clint adds, wincing.

Tony just shrugs and pockets his phone before turning to head down the hallway. “Steve,” he says as he walks away, drawing out the name is some semblance of seduction. “You coming?”

Steve freezes, halfway between sitting and standing, as everyone turns to look at him. He collects himself slowly, straightening up and smoothing out the front of his shirt before he looks around the room, gives a brief nod, and walks out with his head held high.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [with bonus illustration here!](http://spanglesandsass.tumblr.com/post/104793499984/how-about-the-cliche-iest-cliche-of-them-all)


	24. Black, One Sugar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> angelfireeast asked:
>
>> Fix idea: Tony has a half built CA shield on his table in IM 1 so what if he always dreamed of Steve being found & has been designing stuff for him for years. as a pet project or destresser. Then he comes back & Tony tries to hide it from him

Steve struggles to keep his eyes focused as he scrolls through more of SHIELD’s database. He leans back and rubs his eyes, sighing. Since Stark had taken them all in, he finds himself spending most of his free time like this, trying to devour and take in everything Natasha leaked.

"JARVIS?" Steve asks, still secretly amazed at Stark’s creation.

"Can I help you, Captain Rogers?"

"Can you display all the files related to the Super Soldier project and, well, any files directly related to me?"

"Of course, Captain Rogers," JARVIS replies. Steve thinks there’s a sense of ‘this is pitifully easy’ to the tone and does his best to stamp down on the smile threatening to show on his lips.

Steve watches as the screen in front of him populates with a myriad of files and folders, scanning for something interesting to start with. There’s one folder that catches his attention. An unusual one that doesn’t fit the naming convention of everything else collected from the SHIELD database. Curiosity piqued, he leans forward and gently taps on the icon.

Images explode onto the screen. Cross sections and plans of what looks to be his shield… except it’s not  _his_ shield. It—no, they, as there are multiple designs, are clearly inspired by his shield but they’re all different. And they’re all brilliant. Not only that but there are sketches of motorcycles, upgrades to his uniform, plans for a jet pack, and so many other things clearly designed with Steve in mind, that he finds himself at a complete and total loss.

As he delves deeper, he stumbles on something even more unusual—what looks to be a kid’s drawings. Drawings of Captain America standing next to a small dark-haired boy looking proud. Drawings of that same little boy holding a shield… It’s been a long, long time since Steve has been this lost.

"JARVIS, what am I looking at?"

"Images Ms. Potts scanned into the database. They were found among some of Mr. Stark’s possessions in storage."

"Are these—"

"Mr. Stark’s childhood drawings."

"And the rest?"

"The culmination of a lifetime of work. Ms. Potts has reliably informed me that Mr. Stark frequently toyed with the possibility of your being found. Alive. These were a sort of…welcome-home present from him were that to occur."

Steve goes limp in the chair, like all of his strings have been cut. It’s one thing to see the drawings from Tony’s childhood, he’s gotten fairly used to the idea (as much as he can) that he was a hero to more than one generation. But the other files, things that were made by adult Tony, the ‘coming home’ presents…

"I take it he wasn’t exactly thrilled by the reality of that situation," Steve says.

The silence permeating the room gives him all the answers he needs. Not that he can blame Tony, after their auspicious start together, but at least things have been getting better between them. They’re cordial, at least, and Tony’s proving to be a very gracious host considering the nature of his guests.

"These are all from before, then?" He asks, even though he suspects he knows the answer.

"I believe the most recent project was updated just last week," JARVIS says and Steve can picture the smirk on his nonexistent face.

Steve’s stunned. He doesn’t know what to do with that information. A small, petty part of him is tempted to ignore this new knowledge, as it’s not like Tony’s made any particular effort to befriend Steve outside of an occasional bit of small talk or technical jargon. But another part, a significantly larger part of Steve, yearns to get to know the intriguing, if sometimes brash, man better. Not only for the team’s sake, but because Steve does find him genuinely interesting. Tony is funny, charming, incredibly intelligent… And extremely attractive.

He may have built a bit of a prickly wall around himself, but Steve thinks Tony’s a good man through and through. Steve also suspects Tony will likely never make the first steps towards a _real_  friendship between them, but maybe he can manage to swallow his own pride and extend the olive branch.

"JARVIS?"

"Yes, Captain Rogers?"

"Can you tell me where Tony is?" He pauses. "And, uh, how does he like his coffee?"


	25. Love Letters to Nowhere

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> theappleppielifestyle asked:
>
>> steve writing love letters to tony that he never intends for tony to see, he just writes them so he can get his dumb feelings down on paper bc HES SO FULL OF FEELINGS GOD HE LOVES TONY SO MU-HU-HUUUCH. whenever he gets overwhelmed he goes and writes it all down, he has stacks of love letters in his bedside table. and then one day for some reason tony finds the letters and is like holy shit

Steve wakes to the sound of rustling paper, immediately aware of two things. Fact number one is that it’s the middle of the night, if the darkness of the room is anything to go by. Fact number two is that he knows he went to bed alone, but there’s quite clearly someone standing over him next to his bed.

He sits up fast, arm blindly reaching out for the lamp on the nightstand. He’s ready to fight, muscles already tensing and plans of attack rolling through—

He freezes. The flood of relief that flows through him is almost dizzying when he realizes that it’s just Tony.

Tony who is standing over him in bed, clutching a bunch of papers in front of the open drawer of Steve’s bedside table. The relief evaporates as quickly as it came, Steve’s stomach churning.

"What—what—" Steve says, unable to find any words that could possibly make this better.

Tony doesn’t look at him, his eyes remaining fixed on the pages upon pages in his hands as he turns enough to sit on the bed next to Steve. The warmth of Tony’s thigh against his own does little to settle his nerves.

Steve settles on the only question his mind can formulate.

"What are you doing in my room?"

This seems to surprise Tony a little, he glances at Steve before looking back down at the letters.

"I had an idea and wanted to make some adjustments to the communicators. JARVIS said you’d put one in your nightstand, I didn’t want to wake you so… Steve," he says, looking at him and finally holding eye contact. "What are these?"

Steve struggles, half-debating making a joke of them and trying to brush them off. Or, maybe if he asks Tony, they can just forget about the whole thing and pretend it didn’t happen. But Steve’s not a coward. He straightens his back and meets Tony’s gaze unflinchingly. Faltering only once, he lifts his hand up and cups Tony’s cheek gently, stroking his thumb along the soft skin before dropping it back down to his lap.

"You’re the genius, I’m sure you can figure it out."

Tony’s breath seems to catch in his throat. “Yeah, yeah I can,” he says.

In one swift motion, Tony drops the letters to the floor, faces Steve and takes his face in both his hands. Heat rushes through Steve the moment Tony’s lips touch his own and he know that this is it, there’s no going back for him. 

The look that Tony gives him when they wake up a mess of entwined limbs and unstoppable smiles tells him that Tony feels the same way.


	26. I Like You The Way You Are

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anon asked for a Punk!Steve/Prep!Tony high school au.

"Isn’t that Tony Stark?"

"Who?"

"That kid over there in the school uniform."

Steve followed the direction of Bucky’s nod and spotted the person in question immediately. He sat on the small set of metal bleachers in perfect view of all the equipment. Even from this far away, Steve was a little struck by how attractive he was.

“I see him,” Steve confirmed, looking away quickly. “But I still have no idea why I’m supposed to know him.”

Bucky rolled his eyes. “Tony Stark? Howard Stark’s son? Stark Industries?”

Steve shook his head.

“Were you cryogenically frozen for the past decade, Han Solo? He’s a billionaire,” Bucky said.

“His dad’s a billionaire,” Steve corrected.

“He’s a private school snob,” Bucky said, setting his board on the ground and putting a foot on top of it.

“Bucky,” Steve chided. “You don’t even know him.”

Bucky rolled his eyes. He was about to speak again when someone yelled his name, very loudly, interrupting him.

Steve grinned at him. “Natasha’s calling.”

“No shit,” Bucky said. “She’s going to kick my ass again today.”

“Not her fault she’s better than you,” Steve pointed out.

Bucky grinned. “Who said it was a bad thing? It’s why I love her.”

“Get out of here and go practice, you jerk.” Steve said, laughing.

Bucky stood straight and saluted him, “Aye, aye, Captain!”

“Seriously, get out of here before I deck you.”

Bucky laughed. “Sure thing,” he said. He started to head towards where Natasha was standing on the top of a ramp before he stopped and looked back at Steve.

“Hey, punk.”

Steve looked back at him.

“He looks lonely,” Bucky said. “Why don’t you go keep him company?” He winked and turned away before Steve could say anything unfavorable.

Nevertheless, that was exactly what he did. Not that he’d admit that he had already been planning on introducing himself before Bucky had said anything. Steve walked up the wobbly bleachers and sat down a couple feet away from him. Nerves fluttered around his stomach once he got his first up-close look at Tony. He was probably the most attractive boy Steve had ever seen in person.

“Hey,” Steve said, thankful his voice didn’t break on the one syllable greeting.

Tony turned to look at him, a small amount of shock on his face. “Hi.” He said. There was a hint of a question in the tone.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before,” Steve said. He cringed almost immediately. He was skirting way too close to lame pick-up lines when all he wanted to do was introduce himself.

“No,” Tony agreed, but didn’t say anything further.

“I’m Steve,” Steve tried wanly.

“Tony,” said Tony.

Steve sighed. He could take a hint and he knew when he wasn’t wanted. He let the attempted conversation lapse into silence while he watched Bucky and Natasha on the ramp. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Tony tapping away at his phone. Every once in awhile, though, he thought he saw Tony steal a glance in his direction. It was probably just his imagination.

They were quiet for another five minutes before he saw Tony pocket the cell phone and lean back, resting his back and elbows on the bench behind him. He cleared his throat gently and Steve’s heart stuttered just a fraction, waiting to see if Tony was going to speak. He wasn’t disappointed.

“So,” Tony began. “You don’t skate?” He asked.

“Nah. Last time I tried, I broke my arm. Ma pretty much forbid it after that. I just watch.”

Tony looked at him up and down quickly. An odd expression overcame his face. “You actually listen to what your mother says?” He asked.

Steve lifted an eyebrow. “She’s my ma. And she’s all the family I have. Besides, I’ve had enough broken bones to last me a lifetime.”

There was silence again, but much shorter than the last.

“She doesn’t care about your hair, then?” Tony asked.

This time it was Steve that gave Tony the odd look. “It’s just hair. It grows back.”

“The piercings?”

Steve shrugged. “They’re just small holes. They’ll shrink up and pretty much disappear if I leave them out long enough. Tattoos are a different story though.”

Tony gave him a curious look.

“She won’t let me get any. But,” Steve grinned, “only four months until I’m eighteen and then she can’t do anything about it.”

Tony smiled back. “She won’t kick you out?” He asked.

“My ma? No. She’d never do that to me,” Steve said, absolutely certain. “She might lay in a guilt trip here and there, but isn’t that how all mothers are?”

Tony’s expression closed and he gave a half-hearted shrug. “Sure, I guess.”

Steve was stunned at how much he wanted to fix whatever had put that look into Tony’s eyes, despite the fact that they had just met. Knowing they didn’t know each other well enough to pursue the topic, he went in a different direction.

“What about you?” Steve asked.

“What about me?”

“Do you want any tattoos or piercings?”

Tony looked surprised, like it was something he had never considered. “I don’t know… yeah, maybe. Someday.”

“What would you get done?” Steve asked.

Tony hummed for a second, looking off into the distance. He grinned suddenly. “Not sure about the tattoos yet, but maybe I’d get my tongue pierced.”

“Why’s that?” Steve asked.

“Why do you think?” He asked with a wink.

Steve rolled his eyes and Tony laughed.

“Sorry. Couldn’t help it. I find myself incredibly attracted to you despite your hair.”

Steve raised an eyebrow. “Despite my hair?”

“The red’s cool. But I don’t care for the blue,” he said, wrinkling his nose. “Maybe… a dark blond with it? Something that looks almost golden?”

“I barely even know you and you’re giving me fashion advice,” Steve laughed.

“Hey, you approached me. This is all your fault,” Tony said.

“Mm. I suppose it is,” Steve replied. He looked sideways at Tony. “But I can’t say I regret the decision.”

Tony smiled at him and Steve felt his face heat just a little, surprised at his sudden boldness. And ‘smooth’ was not something Steve had ever been described as. 

"It’s not too painful, you know." Steve said.

"What isn’t?"

Steve stuck his tongue out, loving the way Tony’s eyes widened when he spotted the barbell. He pulled his tongue back in after a moment.

“Is it… Is it hard to kiss with that in?” Tony asked, still looking at Steve’s mouth.

Steve hedged for a moment, clearing his throat. “I dunno, I’ve never…” Steve said honestly, trailing off.

Tony stared at him in disbelief for a long moment. “You know, there’s a nice secluded bench up on a hill on the other end of the park. Can’t really see it unless you know it’s there and are looking for it.” Tony said, never breaking eye contact.

“Yeah?” Steve breathed.

“Want to go check it out?” Tony asked.

“Absolutely.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [bonus illustration by the lovely chibisque!](http://chibiesque.tumblr.com/post/112914057964/have-a-quick-punk-steve-yup-the-pic-is)


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> damiwayne asked:
>
>> rachel can u write (if u want to) steve flirting with tony all the time like in the trailer and tony is just COMPLETELY OBLIVIOUS like it's ridiculous but at the end he realizes and MAKE OUTS AND STUFF!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slight Age of Ultron spoilers. If you've seen the newest trailer, you'll be fine.

"I’ve got no plans tomorrow night,” Steve said, giving Tony what he hoped was a flirtatious smile. With his track record on that type of thing, though, it may have been more of a grimace.

Tony gave him an appreciative smirk in response, but immediately launched into his plan of attack.

Damn. Maybe middle-of-the-possible-end-of-the-world wasn’t the best time to try his luck at dating. Especially with Tony Stark.

* * *

They saved the day. Again. They were all beaten and bloody, and there might be a hospital visit in the near future for a couple of them, but they were all  _alive_ . Steve looked over to Tony, bruises already blooming on his handsome face. Tony, having sensed Steve staring, turned and caught his gaze. He smiled at him, a true, full smile that took Steve’s breath away.

"I was just thinking…" Steve said.

"What’s up, Cap?"

"Dinner." He said, his voice going up an octave.

"Yeah, sure. What were you thinking?" Tony asked. Steve didn’t get a chance to answer before Tony continued."Wait, no, I’ve got just the place."

Steve grinned, his chest feeling light.

"Hey, team, listen up," Tony said into the comms and Steve’s heart faltered. "I saw a place on 38th and Madison. Let’s regroup and get some grub before we deal with… the entire world, I would assume."

_Damn_ , Steve thought.

* * *

The next time Steve saw Tony was in front of the grand jury. He watched in awe as Tony danced around the questions before finally driving points home that no one could refute. Over and over they tried to trip him up, tried to get him to say anything that would give them legal grounds to send him or the rest of the team away for good, but he didn’t falter once. It was a sight to behold.

After the testimony, Steve tried to find him in the halls. He spotted Tony right as he was about to head out the doors.

"Hey, Tony!" He yelled, jogging to catch up.

Tony grinned at him, like always. “Hey, Steve. What can I do for you? Besides keep your ass out of jail, that is.”

"You were—you were amazing in there," Steve said honestly.

"Aw shucks, Cap. You know just how to compliment a man," he said.

Steve laughed. “You were, I mean it. You should’ve seen my testimony. Watching paint dry would’ve been more interesting,” Steve said.

"Now I’m sure that’s a lie."

"It’s not, trust me. Anyway, I wanted to ask—since we’re both here and we haven’t seen each other since—do you want to grab some coffee?" Steve asked. He had gone for casual, but knew his face betrayed him. He’d bet money you could read his hopefulness a mile away.

"I’d love to, Steve, but Pepper’s got a few things she wants me to do while I’m in town. We should get the team together soon, though," Tony said. "It’d be nice to see everyone when we aren’t being hunted down by aliens or genocidal robots. I don’t know if I can remember what everyone looks like without blood and dirt on their faces."

"Oh," Steve said. He gave a short, awkward laugh. "Yeah, yeah. We should do that…"

Tony’s phone rang and he glanced at it and sighed. “Look, it’s good to see you, Steve, but I’ve gotta jet,” he said, clapping Steve on the shoulder before heading out the door. “We’ll catch up, yeah?” He said over his shoulder as he left.

"Yeah. It was good to see you too, Tony," Steve said wanly.

Damn.

* * *

Okay, Steve thought. Maybe he just hadn’t been clear before. He was never any good at the whole flirting and asking someone out thing. He could take charge in all areas of his life except for this one, it seemed. He was going to settle this once and for all. He even had a plan, this time. He was going to find Tony and ask him straight up if he’d like to go to dinner with him. Alone. On a date.

Thankfully, Tony had given clearance to the entire team for all of Stark Tower, including his workshop and personal quarters. Steve walked into the building and to the elevator on a mission. 

He cleared his throat, unsure of what to do next. “Excuse me,” he said.

"Yes, Captain?" The female voice would take some getting used to.

"Where’s Tony at right now?"

"Mr. Stark is currently in the workshop, Captain. Shall I send you there?" She asked.

"Please."

When the elevator opened, Steve spotted Tony immediately, hunched over something on a workbench, his back to the glass doors. Steve put his palm on the scanner and the doors slid open silently.

Before he could lose his nerve, Steve launched into his plan immediately.

"Tony, I’ve been thinking about this for awhile now and, well, the thing is I really like you. I thought maybe it was just a silly crush at first, you know, you’re handsome, intelligent, and ambitious so that’s not too surprising. But then I got to know you and I realized it’s not just a crush. I think you’re pretty amazing, actually. And I just—if you thought you might be interested—I’d love to see if we could maybe have something here? Between us? And I don’t mean—I don’t want to push you into anything. I’m not looking to jump into anything serious right away, but I thought—oh, hell. Tony would you like to go to dinner with me? on a date?"

Steve came to rest a couple of feet behind Tony as he finished talking. He stood there, holding his breath as he waited for a response.

"Look," Tony said. "I really appreciate it but that’s going to be a no go. I’m just not interested."

Steve felt like he had been doused in cold water. Part of him wanted to make his case, part of him felt like leaving and finding someplace quiet to lick his wounds. He tried for the former.

"Tony, I—"

"I really can’t see myself  _ever_  being interested,” Tony said, interrupting him.

Steve’s mouth snapped shut. Alright, he thought. At least he had a firm, clear answer. He’d gotten over heartbreak before, he could do it again. He nodded shortly and made his way quickly out of the lab.

* * *

A minute later, Tony straightened up with a huff and took the earpiece out, tossing it on the workbench. He really needed to screen his calls better.

He paused, something felt off.

"ANNA?" He asked.

"Yes, sir?"

"Was someone just in here?"

"Captain Rogers just left."

Tony’s eyebrows furrowed. “What did he want?”

"I believe he wanted to ask you out on a date, sir."

"He wanted to ask me out on…" he trailed off. 

"—a date," ANNA finished for him.

His throat felt tight. “Right,” he said, voice strangled. “Can you playback the security footage?”

"Of course, sir."

* * *

The moment Steve got home, he went straight to his balcony. He’d always had an easier time thinking in fresh air but he had a hard time being out in public thee days. Someone always seemed to approach him for some reason or another, even in the middle of the night.

He sat in the cool night air and listened to the sounds of the city around him, leaning his head back on the patio chair and closing his eyes. It was painful, sure, but it was better than the constant uncertainty that plagued him every time he thought of Tony. He just hoped he hadn’t made things awkward between them. Not that he’d see Tony until the world needed saving again—

"Steve."

Steve nearly jumped out of his skin. As it was, he jumped out of his chair and took a step back, prepared to fight—

"Tony?" Steve asked.

The man in question was hovering just on the other side of Steve’s railing, faceplate retracted.

"I’m sorry," Tony started.

Steve took a step toward him. “Look, don’t worry about it, you can’t help who you like—”

"I was on the phone," Tony interrupted.

Steve tilted his head, confused.

"When you came into the workshop. I was on the phone, I didn’t even know you were there," Tony said.

"Oh," Steve said. Then, " _Oh_.”

"Yeah," Tony breathed.

"Then you came here to…" Steve said, taking another step towards him.

”Accept?” Tony asked, eyes wide and hopeful.

Steve didn’t know if it was possible, but it certainly felt like his heart skipped a beat.

"Good," Steve said. "That’s good."

"Are you free?" Tony asked.

"What? Right now?" 

"No time like the present," Tony said.

Steve’s couldn’t have wiped the smile off his own face if he tried. “Yeah, I’m free.”

"Good," Tony said. "But first, I’ve wanted to do this for awhile," he said. 

He reached out and grabbed Steve’s wrist, tugging him towards the railing and pulling him into a kiss that made Steve’s toes curl. It was a bit unusual, Tony moving up and down just barely as he hovered, and Steve wished he could feel Tony’s warm and firm body against his, but it was good. It was better than good; it was  _incredible_. When they parted, lips red and plump, they grinned each other other like a couple of lovestruck fools.

Which, Steve supposed, is exactly what they were.

**Author's Note:**

> [i'm on tumblr :)](http://bootycap.tumblr.com)


End file.
